Weight tape/Condition

[Governor]

I used a weight tape on Governor this morning and it came out with 468kg. He's a 16.2hh 6 year old Dutch Warmblood and to me this doesn't sound much, what would you say is about right for his height/build?

Personally I think he's in good condition, certainly not underweight. The photos below are most recent, i'll take some more at the weekend as the grass has come through so he's slightly more covered but his workload is increasing.

 

[spaniel]

Looks spot on to me.

 

[Nailed]

hum.. he should read around 550kg but to be fair.. they are seriously not that well calibrated.. ted has a massive girth, weighs in at 550kg.. there is no one on this earth he weighs that as he is way too skinny,,

You horse is weighing in quite light.. looks healthy and happy and a good weight but looks to have a tiny girth.

Lou x

 

[TGM]

My preference is to use condition scoring to assess correct bodily condition. That is checking the amount of fat on the ribs, neck and hindquarters. Ideally the ribs should be easily felt but not seen and there should not be a fatty crest on the neck or a 'gutter' down the hindquarters, but also the hip bones should not be sticking out and there should not be a pronounced dip in front of the wither. In the photos your horse looks just about right to me!

I don't find weight tapes a very accurate way of gauging condition, because there will be a huge difference between horses with a very deep girth and those with a naturally shallower girth measurement. HOWEVER, once you have assessed your horse's condition the weight tape is a very useful tool to measure whether the horse is increasing, maintaining or losing weight.

 

[Governor]

He was such a skinny little 3 year old when I bought him i'm chuffed that he's come through winter so well this year, we seem to have cracked it as far as what works to keep the weight on, and I get the feeling its now going to be keeping it off. He's only on HiFi Lite and supplements, if he starts struggling energy wise he goes best on cooked flaked barley.

I did condition score him too (today, rather than how he looks in the pics) and I put him at 3 all over. His rump is a little flatter than i'd like but I want fat not muscle obviously.

 

[Shilasdair]

This seems light to me, I'd reckon 550kg - 575kg if the pictures are current.
S

 

[Shrimp]

Hmm that does seem low but as others have said they are not very accurate. My horse is a 15.2 full TB and our weight tape reads about 510kg but he does have a deep girth so I dont really know how accurate that is! In your pics he looks absolutely fine to me, very nice horse indeed!

 

[Janette]

I do not consider my weigh tape to be an indicator of weight - more of change of weight.
Like the bathroom scales can tell me when I've gained weight, but are not accurate as to how much I actually weigh

 

[pidgeypony]

Looks ideal to me. Agree with TGM

 

[puddicat]

"would you say is about right for his height/build?"

yes, agree with spaniel and others who said this


loobie_lou: "hum.. he should read around 550kg but to be fair.. they are seriously not that well calibrated.."

says who? The lower bound on 16.1 horses is about 460 kg so if he really was 470 kg er. fine. Weight tapes are accurate to about 15% so if you measure him at 470 kg he could be anywhere between 400 kg and 540 kg So he could actually be about 540 kg even though he reads 470 kg


TGM: "I don't find weight tapes a very accurate way of gauging condition, because there will be a huge difference between horses with a very deep girth and those with a naturally shallower girth measurement."

Weigh tapes don't tell you condition full stop. To know condition you need at least two measurements, weight and size (that's why body mass index is calculated using weight and height - the height is a size reference). There isn't a huge difference in so called deep and shallow girthed horses although it is a source of error - it's a bit like people who are heavy saying they are big boned.


Janette: "do not consider my weigh tape to be an indicator of weight - more of change of weight."

Yes I think that's quite a smart idea, the only thing I'd say is that the whole point of measuring trunk circumference at the girth is that it is deliberately insensitive to whether your horse is fat or thin. The reason is that the primary determinant of the measurement you are taking is skeletal ie the barrel formed by the ribs. This is modulated by muscle mass because muscles cover the ribs but hardly at all by fat deposition so its not a good indication of whether your ned is getting porky.

 

[JAK]

I think your horse looks absolutely perfect weight-wise!
You say his workload is now increasing, so by the time you've added on a bit more muscle due to this, he will probably be somewhat nearer his 'mean average expected weight' for his size would imagine!